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+The Story Of His 20-Yr Church
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Unknown to many Nigerians the most popular pastor in Ukraine, the Eastern European country is Pastor Sunday Adelaja. He heads Embassy of God Church in Ukraine. He emigrated to the USSR and Belarus as a Scholarship Student from Nigeria in 1986 to study journalism. After graduation and the breakdown of the USSR, he started a couple of churches that he later handed over to other pastors before he moved from Belarus to Ukraine in December 1993. Adelaja has faced criticism from local groups, other Ukrainian evangelical churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church and from foreign-based Christian countercult organisations as well as accusations of involvement in fraud. Adelaja’s movement is also present in Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Italy, the United States and several other countries.
The 47 year old Pastor was born in Idomila Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria. He became born-again in March 1986 just before graduating from high school. He was raised by his grandmother, but she died before he could apologize for his unruly, stubborn behavior while growing up. After her death, he decided to compensate her memory by doing his best to touch and uplift others, because he might not have a second chance to help as he didn’t have a second chance with his grandmother. After graduation, Adelaja left Nigeria because he received a scholarship to study Journalism at the Belarusian State University in Minsk, Byelorussian SSR. He claims he was threatened there by authorities for having a picture of Jesus in his house, but nevertheless, he began Christian activities in Russia during his studies. After graduating he was barred from returning to his country due to his missionary work. He married and took a job in Kiev, where he eventually founded and became pastor of the Embassy of God Church, initially with only a handful of fellow African students. Although he grew up in poverty in Africa, today he plays an active role in the political and social life of Ukraine, and is acknowledged by world political leaders such as Bill Clinton, Ariel Sharon and Olusegun Obasanjo. He is also recognized as an influencing factor in political change in Ukraine, called the Orange Revolution.
Pastor Sunday, as he is now fondly named, pastors a congregation of over 25,000 consisting of 99% white Europeans in a racially sensitive country. He studied the Russian language in just 9 months and speaks, preaches and teaches in Russian fluently today. By age 33, he had successfully built the largest charismatic church in Europe, having started with only 7 alcoholics and drug addicts in a small apartment in downtown Kiev, in 1994. Since then he has commissioned the planting of more than 700 churches in over 45 different countries of the world, and has been instrumental in starting over 300 rehab centers for drug addicts and alcoholics, situated all over Ukraine and Russia.Pastor Sunday recently started an organization for businessmen, “CLUB 1000” where Biblical principles of integrity and honesty are taught in an attempt to deliver the country from mafia and criminal-based business.
The work that Pastor Sunday has dedicated his life to doing has profoundly impacted Ukraine for the better, also extending to more than 20 other countries of the world. He painstakingly set his heart to training over 5,000 leaders who now continue this work in these different parts of the world.
Having in his heart to bring global change and relief, he has now started a new ministry that will reform and revolutionize the presupposed format of the Western church, who will be effective in reaching out and touching the lives of hurting people in every sphere of society. This ministry is accurately named Church Shift and will be instituted first in the USA, then in Europe and the rest of the world. He has also published a book with Charisma House called “Churchshift.” The Nigerian government was alerted to a plot by some elements of the Ukrainian government to frame. Mr. Sunday Adelaja, for alleged fraud and treason. The charges are part of a plot to edge him out of reckoning in the forthcoming presidential elections in the country.
In November 2009, the Christian religious community Embassy of God has written to the President of the United States, Barack Obama, with a passionate plea to help put to an end the persecution of the church and its senior pastor, Sunday Adelaja, by the state. In the letter signed by the head of the board of The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for all Nations, T. Maximenko and the CEO, O. Dobrovol’skaya, the members of the Christian religious community called on Obama to help stop the persecution, in which the accusation of fraud is part of.
In September 2009, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine admitted that they have exhausted their possibilities in the criminal case against Sunday Adelaja. Since the Ministry of Internal Affairs has still delayed and refused to take the case to court – probably because of lack of evidence – the Embassy of God Church and Sunday Adelaja initiated a lawsuit against the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police of Ukraine for unlawful accusation and libel. The judge asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to show their evidence for their accusation of fraud, but even after five court hearings they have still not provided any evidence to support their accusation. This is the 23rd legal case against Sunday Adelaja since he started the Embassy of God church 15 years ago and he has won all the 22 previous cases, this one is still open. Adelaja supports Ukrainian nationalism, according to him Ukraine can only become independent through the nationalist mood. He considers it unfortunate that patriotism does not apply to all Ukrainians.
Adelaja was a strong supporter of the Orange Revolution. Adelaja was specifically accused by Ukraine Minister of Internal Affairs, Yury Lutsenko of involvement in a fraud that led to the closure of a finance company known as King’s Capital Company. The charges are widely seen as part of a plot to edge him out of reckoning in the forthcoming presidential elections in the country. The foreign Minister in a letter dated November 5, 2009 had implicated Pastor Sunday Adelaja of Complicity in King’s Capital Fraud. Findings revealed that Lutsenko is a bitter rival of the Mayor of Kiev Leniod Chernovetskiy, a close confidant and supporter of Pastor Adelaja’s Church who is also a strong contender for the Ukrainian presidency.
Interestingly, the President of Ukriane, Victor Yushchenko has cautioned government officials from running down Pastor Adelaja. Thereafter, King’s Capital company issued a statement absolving Pastor Adelaja and Mayor of Kiev, Lenoid Chernovetsky from any link with the company. Since the respected Pastor who got born again in 1986 and thereafter in 1987 travelled to Ukraine to further his studies got into trouble there have been several calls by concerned Nigerians to rescue him. For instance Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has made categorical statements about his ordeal in the Eastern Europe country. Also his lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana issued a statement saying, “Now it is now clear after a year of investigation that Pastor Adelaja was not involved in any way with King Capital and that he did not and could not have diverted its funds to establish a micro finance bank to which he was invited as an honourary board member by its owners who consider him a role model.
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